The History of Tudor Watches | Bob's Watches

Описание: Well, we’re at it again, and it’s time for another installment of the Bob’s Watches video series. Rather than dialing in on another Rolex model, we’re taking a look at an offshoot of the Rolex family. We’re talking Tudor watches - the Rolex sister-brand conceived and founded in 1926 as a mechanism for Rolex’s sales team to offer a watch of reputable quality at a slightly more modest price point.

The brand has had its ups and downs over the years, but over the last decade, and especially the last 4 or 5 years, they’ve been skyrocketing in popularity. The current collection has a healthy number of interesting pieces to offer, most of which have interesting ties to the brand’s history. If you’re even vaguely familiar with the brand, odds are good that the Tudor Black Bay is the first thing that comes to mind, so let’s start there.

The Black Bay first kicked off with a black dial, red bezel, and gilt indices and hands. It was also powered by an ETA-based movement in its first generation. Much has changed since that first launch, including the addition of several dial and bezel options, case sizes, and most notably the move to an in-house movement. The manufacture caliber MT5612 features some solid technical improvements over its ETA-based sibling. It’s COSC certified, uses an anti-magnetic silicon hairspring, and uses a transversal bridge supporting its balance wheel for added stability and shock resistance. It also delivers a 70 hour power reserve, which is a significant improvement over its ETA-based predecessor.

This past year, the hero addition to the collection - at least in 3-hand configuration - came as a bit of a surprise. We’ve seen two-tone in Rolex collections for decades, but it arrived for the first time in the Black Bay line in epic fashion. Leveraging proper vintage cues, the Black Bay S&G, which stands for Steel and Gold, uses steel and yellow gold paired with a black dial. While two-tone is still a bit of an acquired taste for some, this is one of the sharper examples currently on the market.

Also joining the mix last year was a new complication for the Black Bay collection, and one that was a huge hit across the collecting community. I’m of course talking about the Black Bay GMT, the brand’s answer to the hugely desirable, Pepsi-bezel Rolex GMT-Master II that also launched the same year.

Priced at under $5k, the Black Bay GMT provides an affordable alternative to the Rolex classic, with just enough of its own character to stand on its own two feet. Its bezel is matte aluminum rather than ceramic, it uses the classic Tudor snowflake hands, and its shades of blue and red are a good level darker than its Rolex counterpart. Being a bit more of a tool watch, its case is a touch more chunky, and it features a fully brushed oyster style bracelet with rivet-style links, that give it a much more vintage tool-like overall aesthetic.

Given the popularity of Tudor’s tool watches, many people don’t realize that the brand also has quite a few more dressy offerings in their catalog. The Tudor Glamor is a prime example, offered in several sizes and dial configurations. The piece features design cues that are inspired by the classic Tudor Oyster Prince from the ‘50s, and especially when looking at the 36mm cased two-tone variant, it could just about pass for a vintage watch to the untrained eye. By fitting it with an ETA-based caliber instead of one of their in-house offerings, Tudor is able to keep the Glamor very competitively priced too. Even with a gold bezel on the case, the Glamor 36 comes in at just a hair over $2700.

Last but not least comes a popular favorite from the current Tudor collection - the Tudor Heritage Chrono. If you know your vintage Tudor watches, you’ll instantly recognize this gem, as it’s based on the Oysterdate Chronograph from the ‘70s, more commonly known these days as the Tudor Monte Carlo. Other than the swapping of the position of its subdials, the change in knurling on its pushers and crown, a slight increase in case size, and the fact that it runs a self-winding movement, the Heritage Chrono is the spitting image of its sibling, and an excellent one at that.

The blue and grey combo is the most common of the pack; however Tudor also offers a grey and a black dial variant with wider indices that is a throwback to the first version of these chronographs from 1970, known to many as the “home plate” variant. Given the rising prices of all of these Tudors in the vintage market, snagging a modern tribute version is a great way of getting that vintage aesthetic in a watch that is backed by a factory warranty.

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